11 October 2013

Federal Overreach at Local Level Grows Unabated

[This is the linked transcript of my regular KVMR commentary broadcast on 11 October 2013 with an addended video Sheriff Mack made specifically for his upcoming 18oct13 talk in Grass Valley.]

It turns out there is a considerable benefit to having a government shutdown every now and then, for it exposes the belly of the beast. Going about our daily affairs year after year, we don’t notice the added weight and involvement of government in our lives, pruning our liberties and freedoms bit by piece. And this is true also for local governments at the country and city levels.

The 800,000 or so federal employees now on furlough are highlighting how many hoops they maintain and monitor daily for us to jump through. For example in our Central Valley mundane projects like a farmer extending or replacing his irrigation system before the winter freezes have ground to halt, why? Because the feds have inserted regulations to have them inspect and approve various stages of the work, and today these guys are collecting their pay with their feet up somewhere. The same goes for farmers all over the country trying to get federal agricultural loans in order to buy seed and fund operations. No can do, because today the federal ag loan offices are closed.

Then we have all these national park and monument closings. The administration tells us that there are no funds to pay the personnel to keep these facilities open during the shutdown. Yet most of these facilities require no staffs whatsoever to supervise visitors. Nevertheless, the government now has hired extra personnel to barricade these normally open venues and worse. Reports are coming in that extra rangers wearing bullet-proof vests and carrying assault rifles are manning the entry points to national parks where before there was no one or perhaps a single unarmed staffer handing out brochures and collecting fees. Today we have what are correctly called government goons keeping people from legitimate uses of their lands and monuments. This is the exposed nature of what is fast becoming an autocratic police state. (more here)

But there is more. Do you have any idea what Obama’s HUD, or Department of Housing and Urban Development, has been doing with their so-called ‘affordable housing’ regulations. HUD, through its newly expanded Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (a mouthful in itself) will require that counties and cities submit plans to create racially and ethnically diverse communities on an approved pro rata basis. Nobody yet knows what all these definitions mean, but counties will henceforth be required to market their affordable housing projects in neighboring jurisdictions if there aren’t enough minorities in their own to make up the federally mandated mix. And if local zoning and general plans have to be changed, so be it or federal monies will be cut off. (more here)

The added burden on counties, cities, and property developers will be huge as yet another layer of federal requirements roll back local control. But this example of federal overreach by HUD is just a small part of how all federal agencies have injected themselves into our daily affairs on the local level. For example we are all familiar with what distress and destruction the EPA has brought to California’s rural counties. These government types appear out of nowhere to dictate and threaten local jurisdictions and private citizens with non-compliance of freshly minted and arcane regulations that totally bypass any semblance of local control of lives.

A response to this autocratic encroachment has risen through the founding of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Police Officers Association that is gaining momentum across the country. The non-profit organization was founded by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack to inform and educate local law enforcement agencies about their rights and constitutional duties in confronting and dealing with federal diktats. Sheriff Mack is a national figure who has written extensively on local control and appeared on all the major media coast to coast. His views are controversial and cross the right/left ideological divide – for example he opposes the national war on drugs and believes personal marijuana use should be determined by local jurisdictions, as should be the ordnances on food safety especially locally grown foodstuffs.

We are fortunate to be able to hear Sheriff Mack in person when he speaks next week at the GV Veterans Hall on October 18th at 630pm. This non-partisan speaking event is sponsored by the Nevada County Republican Women Federated. Sheriff Mack’s experience as a lawman and his dedication to the ideals of freedom make him a unique and powerful voice for liberty that will appeal to people of all persuasions.

My name is Rebane, and I also expand on this and related themes on NCTV and georgerebane.com where the transcript of this commentary is posted with relevant links, and where such issues are debated extensively. However my views are not necessarily shared by KVMR. Thank you for listening.

[Addendum] Sheriff Mack makes a strong statement in this video as a lead in to his upcoming talk on 18 October 2013 in Grass Valley.

BTW George, all is quiet at RR regarding the exploding story about Pascale Fusshoeller, co-founder of Yubanet. What's your take?

Here's my take:
Susan Levitz is being denied her constitutional right to marry whoever she dang well pleases. As a citizen of this country, this offends me greatly, and the law needs to be re-adjusted to allow US citizens to marry illegal immigrants if they are in truly committed relationships. If sui juris marriages are recognized, why not marriage to illegals? I suspect this is more blowback from stupid 9/11 laws pushed by Ashcroft and now being upheld by the Holder crowd.
They have lived together for 15 years. They married within weeks of the Supreme Court failing to uphold DOMA and squashing the Prop. 8 appeal. This is what they do: http://www.nevadacityadvocate.com/nevada-city/3702.html

And now we have ICE getting ready to send Pascale back to Luxemburg as fast as it possibly can. Isn't this the federal thuggery that you constantly allude to? WHERE IS YOUR OUTRAGE?

Not only that, we have Sheriff Mack coming to town, and he believes that local jurisdictions should be deciding drug policy, doesn't support the War on Drugs, and Sheriff Royal has decided not to introduce him most likely as a result of this disconnect. Does Sheriff Mack support ICE running around the countryside, removing legal spouses from their home counties in some bizarre and misguided attempt to protect us from terrorists? Probably not, is my guess.

Paul Emery has brought these subjects up numerous times, still with no answers at RR.

I guess we'll have to wait until October 18th to find out. As I said before, I'll be there with bells on my toes. Greg Goodknight, most annoying human being in the known universe, will you be there? Maybe we can meet personally for the first time. You too Todd. Perfect venue for a great ol' RR blog hoe down. Lookin' forward to it.

1004pm - There are complications in the circumstances of her arrest. But my outrage is that she would have been and would be treated differently were she Hispanic. White European illegal aliens don't have the same legal stature as Hispanics do. It is not politically incorrect to deport a gainfully employed European illegal alien.

I want to see how this plays out, but constitutionally the illegal alien issue is a federal affair. The several states cannot and should not have the right to make their own peculiar immigration and citizenship laws as long as we are a federal republic and not a confederacy. The best they should do is to aid and abet the enforcement of federal immigration laws within their jurisdictions (like Arizona attempted to do), just like they would for other federal laws.

So what you're saying is that it's a "worthwhile" proposition to have the government shut down as it saves us money?

Sorry guys it doesn't work that simply as I have a part-time consulting contract with Bayer and they spent $23.7 million on research, which will all be flushed unless they can get get the FDA staff out there to certify specific aspects.

This is similar to numerous Federal projects, but just remember that all Federal staff will still get their paychecks......

Was is Dire straits who had the song "money for nothing" as it seems applicable in this case.

Dr. Rebane. You brought up several points, all good. The one that sticks with me more than unleashing the IRS upon political opponents (say you say Nixonian? That's right, I knew you could)...hmmm...more than the IRS and Fast and Furious to make gun owners look bad IS this National Monument/National Park thing. It gets under my skin and stays there. Closing open space from the taxpayers sums up the whole ball of wax. Not even a pretense of reason. Not even an attempt to hide the charade. Ozzie the tent maker must be working overtime to cover Mount Rushmore and the Smokey Mountains.

No pretense. Just like closing down White House tours because of the Sequester. Especially sweet since it has come to light with irrefutable evidence that the whole Sequester idea gushed forth from the White House and that explains why President Obama so eagerly signed it. He signed it to blame them evil Republicans after he rejected recommendations from his own Special Blue Ribbon Panel, even members of his own party. Ain't that special.

The bad thing about the slim down is that Obama decided to cancel his very very important trip to Bali, a major economic power and our most dependable indispensable ally, both economic and strategic. Ain't that special as well.

Mr. Fedor is correct. Every body will get paid. But, what really has the federal workers losing sleep is that the general population might actually think that cutting out 350,000 Federal public servants may be a good thing and not a bad thing. Just imagine nobody missing ya or even noticing your absence. The federal workers don't think that is at all special.

GerryF 1118pm - I believe it is good to shut down the govt bureaucracies now and then in order to take stock. I have argued for years that the federal and state governments are overstaffed by hundreds of thousands of faceless bureaucrats seeking to give purpose to their lives by hindering ours. During shutdowns, not of the pernicious Obama kind, we can directly measure the impacts as I have recently pointed out. The progressives' and bureaucrats' fear is, as Mr Tozer's 1155pm again reminds us, that we taxpayers will discover how useless they are. (Recall that public service employees are not taxpayers from any expenditures resulting from their government paid benefits.)

George that is a good analysis. I have wondered how, under our Constitution did the SCOTUS determine many years ago that there are expenditures that are a right from our treasury. Meaning mandated spending on auto pilot.

As a citizen of this country, this offends me greatly........ coupled with..... And now we have ICE getting ready to send Pascale back to Luxemburg as fast as it possibly can. Isn't this the federal thuggery that you constantly allude to? WHERE IS YOUR OUTRAGE?

I don't know Michael....at our...and Ms. Fusshoellers level we apparently don't get to enjoy selective outrage. Looks like Ms. Fusshoeller might have to "take one for the team" in order for Team Thug to retain some semblance of even handedness. I'm sure the lefty lobby is working furiously behind the scenes to right this wrong...they might still salvage your weekend.

"for some years now I've been trying to encourage NC Supes to get some backbone in their accepting monies from above. "

I didn't hear you speak out when the Sheriffs department received $50,000 from the Feds for pot eradication earlier this year. Acceptance required the Sheriffs Dept to report all instances of cultivation to the Feds no matter how small. I wonder if your fave Sheriff Mack would have taken the dough.

Fish, you hit the nail on the head about selective outrage. Interesting how the Obama lover's and everything Federal are now PO'd and "outraged" at them. But knowing how fickle a liberal can be, they will be back ass kissing them tomorrow.

PaulE 1028am - I think you may have missed the point again. If someone wants to give you money (which is 'found money') with no other strings to do something that you want to do anyway, then why would you not accept it? My 'just say no' advice is for taking monies that come with a thick 'owner's manual' that obligates us to do things we don't want to do. If we cannot negotiate down the money's onerous provisions, then we should very loudly and publicly say 'no!', and invite other jurisdictions to join us in such refusals to advocate for increased local control.

Now you may disapprove of the purpose that Sheriff Royal got his $50K, but that's another issue. Besides doing what I do on 'just say no' (basically continuing to lobby the Supes), I have little capability or time for it given the life I live. I invite you and others similarly motivated to join my effort and advocate keeping our monies as local as possible, along with the decision making for its uses.

The snarky tactic of 'where were you when ...?' applied to every instance of someone's understandable limited scope of actions is an old debating saw that works mostly with light thinkers.

I see the " FREE Pascale Fusshoeller " has started.
The Bee has the story, and most of the LIB regulars
here have chimed in. ( How dare we deport an illegal)
I do believe this is where "Karma" comes into play.
It was just a matter of time before it caught up.
How many jobs did YubaNet have a role in snuffing?
They (her) was all over IMM like a stinky tie-dye
dirty shirt. They also were (are) anti dredging
and spewed whatever Sierra Fund fed them.
Like I said... "Karma" has come back to bite.

Just let her aty for goodness sakes. She is now a married person and let it alone. ICE should release her and let her come home. She can then get a green card. The world will not end if this one little woman stays. I have never met her for anyone who cares.

Here are the strings attached to the contract signed by the BOS in offer to accept the grant for Federal cash . I would think you would be concerned as you are someone who, along with Sheriff Mack, is on the record as having opposed the War on Drugs and the expense it involves. This is just another example of how local agencies become hooked on Federal funding, something that the scope of this posting expresses concern about. So the explicit nature of this grant requires hat the local Petunia inspectors repport all activity to the Feds. A pretty cheap buy in to give the Feds detailed information about our County residents. This was downplayed by the Sheriff but the fact remains this was part of the contract signed to get the grant.

"MANDATORY requirement for THE AGENCY to utilize the Web -based DEA Internet Capability Endeavor(DICE) or if applicable the Firebird based DEA Analysis/Response Tracking System (DARTS) to report all statistics and seizures per incident, to include the submission of significant items for de-confliction and information sharing purposes."

Who needs the feds as jack-booted thugs when you have the Kalifornia govt? SB683 was just signed into law. I would love to hear the lefties out there explain to us again about black voter suppression in light of this bill. Why not a poll tax and written test before allowing anyone to vote? Or to write a letter to the editor, or post online, or ... Whoops! - then that would apply to this as well.If the lefties didn't have double standards, they wouldn't have any standards. (apologies to A. Coulter)
Do we have Constitutional rights or do we not?

Will Granny get her medical marijuana for her cancer? Remember regs are not necessarily laws, but they sure look, smell, act, and think like a law. Its what we NOT of the socialist "common good clause" have been bitching about for years.

Concerning the illegal alien from Luxemburg: Objectively, here some thoughts. Like many a politician from Nixon to Clinton, and from corporations to little homemaker Martha Steward have come to find out, the coverup is worse than the crime every time. Lying to an officer of the law is no small matter. Its a huge matter and puts one in a totally different category. Forget the reasons why. Its not like she was lying to the Nazis when asked if she was hiding Jews. No, she lied to save her own skin. Plus, one cannot overlook overstaying her visa by 15 years. Had plenty of time take the initiative. That's the object side of me.

Now that she is facing several charges instead of a measly immigration hold, the picture of her as the model of a good person has been damaged (in the eyes of the law). If she was a Mexican National, she most likely would have been issued a citation with a court date on it or where to mail the mula for the traffic violation. But nooooo! Driving without auto insurance is kinda frowned upon by most people. Auto insurance companies don't take a liking to having an insured policy holder lending their vehicles to unlicensed motorists. Still, it was all petty until she crossed the line and impersonated another driver. LE frown upon being lied to as well. Think they call it obstructing justice. No longer a innocent traffic violation.

If sent to her homeland, she will probably be sent to the back of the line. Maybe, maybe not. Many many folks marry forn-ners on a daily basis and have their spouses come over here to live under permanent residence status. If she is sent to the back of the line, we will see her again in about 18 years. We are a nation of laws and man o man, I broke a few hundred of them in my time. But I never lied about it and always got a slap on the wrist (or a lighter sentence) and of course a lighter wallet. Worse part is being put in confinement 23 hours a day with a cell mate who constantly passes has bad gas.